A Beginning to an End
by betsytheripper
Summary: PG because I use a cuss word or two, just to be safe. A one-shot sweet, simple, bordering on fluff, fic. Flames welcome.


**A/N: Hooray for my first one-shot fic! And it's also my first Trigun fic as well! Yay for firsts! And, okay, I'll tell you now. This is kind of just an offering to the flames just to see what I get. I don't care what you say, as long as it's not personally hurtful. That would just be mean. You can say anything you want on the story, and I won't mind. And my inspiration for this was a couple paragraphs of my mom's brain melt, and I took them, and started writing this at 12 in the morning in my room. And I finished at 1:30 in the morning with my dad watching Battlestar Galactica. Scary. So yes, onward we go.**

**I must thank Lovely Wolf Girl for telling me the name of that song, and letting me use the lyrics from her story. Thanx bunches!!!!!!!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Trigun, I would be rolling in money. I am not rolling in money, because I'm on the computer. Hence, I do not own Trigun.**

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**A Beginning to an Ending**  
  
With the suns setting behind him, a tall blonde with aqua eyes returns to the town that he left nearly seven months before. He has a body slumped over his shoulder, and the holster at his side is empty. He wonders what she'll say when she finds out he's back.

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Meryl had gotten a job at the local bar. Not a fabulous job, but it was indoor work, and the tips were pretty good. It helped pay the bills she got from living so far from home. Pension payment from work wasn't enough to by herself dinner, let alone pay rent, and she had two mouths to feed. Working in the bar at night left her days free to catch up on the rumors of Vash and where he might be now. She knew he'd come back, someday, but it looked to be a far off day.  
  
It had been a typical Friday night at the Dust Trail Inn and Bar. Meryl was keeping busy waiting on several tables, a general mix of 'what'll ya have's and hand slapping. Busy was good, because it made the go more quickly.  
  
Millie stopped by with dinner for Meryl, and said all they had was salmon sandwiches. She shuddered at the thought, but it would have to do. She picked up the sandwich, and it reminded her of how much he loved these. They were right up there next to donuts on his list of things he would stop chasing a skirt for. After staring at the disgusting fish for a bit, she finally took a bit, from which she cringed horribly. Deciding it would be better to get this over with sooner than later, she practically shoved the entire sandwich in her mouth and swallowed. As long as there was food in her stomach, she didn't care.  
  
Millie was heading home, after dropping of Meryl's food and watching her swallow it whole, and Meryl was busy with a drunk trying to grope her again. Now that she thought about it, she had to replace a lot of serving trays broken over people's heads. Meryl was keeping quite a fair clip serving orders and replacing tables and chairs to their natural orientation. Meryl was actually busy enough that she didn't notice the man standing by the door, which was highly unusual, since she was known as the best waitress in the whole town.  
  
The man just stood and watched her, not trying to get her attention, but just observing. No one seemed to notice him, actually, and he took great relief in that. He admired the short woman, and how no matter angry she got, her violet eyes always shone with a brighter spirit.  
  
Meryl glanced up towards the doorway, feeling she was being watched. She noticed the man by the door. For a brief moment she caught a shine of teal from his eyes and her violet ones locked with his. For that moment, Meryl felt like she was falling down, into his eyes. Her heart started beating so fast she thought it would burst, and her stomach fluttered violently, and she thought butterflies were going to come pouring out of her mouth. But nothing happened, and suddenly she was back at the bar, with the same drunk from earlier still trying to grab her in places he shouldn't be. That man's head started to hurt out of nowhere as a serving tray came crashing down upon it numerous times.  
  
The man by the door smiled, having been on the receiving end of one of those beating more than once before. He realized how much he missed making her mad, just so he could receive that kind of punishment. He thought of it as a kind of game, and remembered how much fun it was.  
  
Meryl, finally getting a break from nagging customers and drunken perverts, decided to go see the man, only to look at his retreating form in the doorway. She noticed something over his shoulder, which seemed to be another person. Meryl called out to her boss behind the counter she was taking a break, one of her two 15 minutes ones she got each shift. Meryl took off her apron, leaving it on a hook right behind the bar. She headed towards the door, on the way having to dodge several attempts to get her a drink. Once she made it to the door, she looked down the darkened street. On a bench not to far away the man sat, with someone resting against his shoulder, clearly asleep.  
  
Her feet refused to acknowledge reason and took her closer to the bench and the man. She stopped only a few yarz away, looking at the man and studying him carefully. His hair was a light yellow blonde, down past his chin in length. The person next to him was definitely male also, with broad shoulders and a short, platinum haircut. She stared at the man for a minute. He seemingly didn't know of her presence, as he was enthralled in the stars, his head sagging back on his neck. He looked so at peace, and despite her gut reaction, she couldn't help think she was intruding on him.  
  
For a moment she thought of how her and Vash had sat on that cliff, and looked at the stars together. She almost let loose a torrent of tears at the memory, cursing herself for being so emotional lately. Meryl looked at the man again, noticing the way his hair fell back off his face when he looked up, and how the faint light sparkled off his eyes. The sting of fresh tears came to her eyes as she though of the way Vash's eyes had sparkled like that. Damn her for her emotions. She had to be strong. She was the strength for Millie when she still cried about Wolfwood. Thinking this brought on a new set of tears to her eyes. Both her and Millie had lost the most important men in their lives, and she tried hard to stifle a sob.  
  
Fearing she was heard, Meryl moved back into the shadows of the building, trying to dry her face. She glanced up at the man to see that he was now standing and looking at her. She saw cool aquamarine eyes, with no emotion but sorrow in them for her. The man's face was pulled into the slightest, but most heartfelt frown. She felt the recognition again, and felt as though the butterflies would explode again. She instantly realized that he was staring at her, and panicked.  
  
"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." She choked out before turning away. She didn't leave, but just stared into the wall in all its futility. She had the urge just to run up to this man and hug him for all her worth, but good thing she could control her impulses. She so wanted to believe it was Vash, that he was back, but she couldn't. Sure this man looked like him, but it didn't feel like him. He was just, different.  
  
"No, I mean, don't go." She remembered that voice. No, she knew it. It had so many different versions, ranging from serious to psycho, but she knew it. This time though, it was filled with a sadness that she couldn't place. A longing and a hope that sounded almost desperate. Meryl still stared at the wall uselessly, and waited for a minute. It couldn't be him, why would he come back? After all this time, why would he bother? She hoped it would be him, but it couldn't be true, could it?  
  
"How do I know I can trust you?" She didn't mean to say that. Why would she say that? She already knew that she could trust this man, but why wasn't her brain paying attention to her heart? This was not the time for reason to take over instinct.  
  
The man sighed, and she heard him whisper, "Meryl." After another minute of silence, and neither had moved, the man began to sing.  
  
"_So- on the first night,  
  
A pebble falls to the earth from somewhere._"  
  
Before the man can continue, Meryl started the second verse.  
  
"_So- on the second night,  
  
The pebble's children hold hands and sketch a waltz._"  
  
Meryl turned to see beautiful teal eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Her violent ones were starting to brim with tears also. The man had his hands out in a gesture of welcoming, and Meryl just wanted to be in those arms. She took three steps, and was engulfed in a hug, her arms clamped around his waist.  
  
"Oh, Vash. Why couldn't you just talk to me? Why did you stand there and make me nervous? Why didn't you come back sooner? Why did you have to make me worry so much? Why Vash?" Meryl rushed all of this out, rivers of tears coursing down her face. She could feel light droplets of wetness on the top of her head, knowing Vash was crying too.  
  
Meryl rubbed her cheek against Cash's chest feeling how warm he was, and suddenly realized she was outside, and how cold it was. She held on to him tighter, if possible, and shivered from the invading chill. Vash removed his right arm from her back, placing his hand on her chin and gently lifting her face up. He gazed down into her eyes as she looked up into his. For a moment, neither heard anything, saw anything, or felt anything other than each other. Finally, Vash spoke, breaking the silence, but not the eye contact.  
  
"Meryl, I can answer you later, but-"Meryl had opened her mouth to protest, but what she was actually going to say was both unimportant and forgotten. "Why? Because, I love you." With that Vash claimed her mouth with his own, in a gentle kiss that was sweet and innocent, yet full of passion and need and want. Meryl broke away, staying only centimeters from him.  
  
"Vash, do you meant it?" He nodded slowly, barely moving his head at all. "Good, because I love you, too." Meryl spoke in no more than a whisper, but every syllable was loud and clear to Vash. His aqua eyes seemed to brighten suddenly and glow with emotion, and Meryl could tell what the emotion was. It was also running through her veins, making her heart speed up in the knowledge of it. And as Vash kissed Meryl again, this time with more love and care than could ever be put into words, Meryl figured out a name for that emotion. She knew that she was going to live happily ever after.  
  
End

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**A/N: Yay! Wasn't that special? And I have to tell you, that when I finished writing this at 1:30 in the morning, it was 7 pages of absolute crap and I was tearing up. It's still absolute crap, and I'm still tearing up, but this time it's because I realize how cheesy it. Now, burn it down! Or just review. Either's fine. See ya on the next fic! -Betsy**


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